If you were a ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Atari ST or Amiga gamer, then the chances are you played games published by two small British companies called Hewson Consultants and 21st Century Entertainment.

Hewson History

Throughout the 1980s Hewson built up a reputation for producing some of the finest games of the era, publishing smash-hit titles such as Avalon, Paradroid, Uridium, Nebulus, Exolon, Cybernoid, Quazatron, Stormlord and Zynaps from legendary programmers like Steve Turner, Andrew Braybrook, Raffaele Cecco and John Phillips.

After Hewson shut its doors, company founder Andrew Hewson went on to setup 21st Century Entertainment which revitalised a whole gaming genre - the Pinball simulator after discovering the talents of four young Swedish students who went on to form DICE, now one of the biggest development studios in the world.

21st Century Entertainment published the first ever games developed by DICE; Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions.

Andrew Hewson was also the founding chairman of ELSPA, the original industry trade body in the UK. ELSPA responded to concerns about violent videogames by establishing a movie-style age ratings system for games and continues to represent the UK games industry today under its new identity as UKIE.

21st Century Entertainment

The history of Hewson Consultants stretches all the way back to 1980, when Andrew Hewson purchased a ZX80 micro-computer and began to write programs for it, including some simple games.

He wrote notes about what he had learnt on an old typewriter and turned them into a humble book called Hints & Tips for the ZX80 which was only available via mail order. The success of his first book led to a sequel and an opportunity to become a columnist for Sinclair User magazine, in which Andrew wrote his monthly Hewson's Helpline column for the best part of a decade.

More books followed and other programmers began to send their games in to Hewson Consultants, starting it on the path to becoming one of the most celebrated British game producers of the period.

In 2013 Andrew Hewson reformed Hewson Consultants Ltd, the company he founded in 1980, in order to write and publish a new book called Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers. After spending almost 15 years away from the indsutry, Andrew feels he has gained some valuable perspective and is able to share his experiences and insights with the gaming pioneers of tomorrow:

“When I started in the games industry with a ZX80 and a typewriter, it was an era of open platforms and cutting edge innovation. Today, thanks to digital distribution and the re-emergence of open platforms, we are returning to the kind of industry in which small creative teams can flourish. This book is an opportunity for me to share my experiences from two decades at the cutting edge of gaming with the industry pioneers of tomorrow.” - Andrew Hewson

The History

Part 1 / 3

Andrew Hewson took to the stage at Play Expo 2013 in Manchester to talk about the history of Hewson Consultants and share behind-the-scenes stories from some of the hit games.